


Worth A Shot

by redluna



Series: Inceptiversary Trope/Kink Bingo [2]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M, Mostly just these boys being idiots about their feelings, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 22:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19981723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redluna/pseuds/redluna
Summary: Turns out Arthur had learned that trick with the kiss from somewhere else. It's just that some days he really wishes he hadn't.





	Worth A Shot

Arthur was certain that no one who knew him would be surprised that he could pinpoint exactly when all his frustrations with Eames had begun. He could be just as sure, though, that trying to ask them to guess at it would fail each time.

Because, despite all appearances. Arthur hadn’t actually loathed Eames on sight. Not back then, he was just another of the alarmingly competent people that had emerged after the attempts to shut down the military’s dream sharing projects. It had left Arthur with a sense of clutching onto the coattails of those with far more creative willpower than himself, but he hadn’t minded in the slightest. Still didn’t, as a matter of fact.

There were memories there that he wouldn’t trade for anything. Such as early lessons in architecture from a Dom without worry lines, who only laughed alongside him when Mal would snatch their carefully laid lines to bend them into something greater and more.

But there were some things that were a bit harder to prod at. It was difficult to remember Eames back then, after all, without feeling a bit of bitterness for how damn easy it had been for the other man to get him wrapped around his finger. 

Eames must have seen how desperate he was to please around that time; anxious for even the littlest bit of praise. Perhaps things would even be fine between them now if Eames had kept it only to thin excuses to touch and words with just a little too much intent.

But, of course, Eames wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t try to take more than he should.

It had been back when their little team had truly gotten into the swing of experimenting, which only meant that it was time to push the envelope even further. Even with that in mind, Arthur had still frozen in place when the figures that dotted the beachfront he had so carefully constructed all began swiveling towards him as one.

“W—What’s going—”

“Do try not to panic, dear.” Eames’ hand had felt all that kept him grounded then, despite the shock of it sliding in to take his own. “Mal’s trying her best to pick apart the strangeness of the dream. A different sort of failsafe, apparently.”

“Right.” Arthur could still remember how his heart raced when someone passing by clipped his shoulder a little too hard. Everyone remembered their first time being torn apart by a dream’s projections, after all. “Is there meant to be one of those for  _ me _ ?”

“Depends.” Eames had tugged on his hand then, only chuckling as he stumbled. “Care to give me a kiss?”

Arthur had been so sure that moment was going to change everything. And, in a bitterly ironic way, he had been right. It had just lead to him tracking Eames down that night to find him with a woman pressed up close to him in a bar rather than being that person himself.

So, honestly, if his responses to Eames were a bit clipped, if he shrugged off any offers for after work excursions that didn’t include the rest of the team, then he thought it was only justified.

Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten Ariadne involved in it all, though. She had only laughed when he had tried to apologize for it, though, only patting him on the cheek with a quirked brow.

“I’m a big girl, you know,” she’d said. “I can handle it."

Arthur could only wonder if she would have been quite as understanding if she knew he had done it on the off chance that Eames might be able to see. Although, given the quirked eyebrow and sly grin cast his way when the man himself pitched himself down in a seat in the airport terminal next to him, perhaps he was more transparent than he would have liked.

“This is the part where we’re not meant to be seen together.” Arthur didn’t even bother to look up from his phone, swiping through the finishing details on a reservation for a nearby hotel. “You’re clever enough to grasp the reasoning behind that, surely.”

“Oh, but of course.” The arm that Eames draped around the back of Arthur’s chair certainly seemed to imply anything but, however. “But I wouldn’t want you to think that your antics had missed their mark.”

“What are you…” Arthur had only meant to glance up for a moment, but then he caught the brittle quality of Eames’ smile and found himself unable to look away. “It’s not all that dramatic. It just seemed a useful trick is all.”

“Really now.” Eames leaned in until their knees almost knocked together, all of which was much too much for Arthur handle at the moment. “Is that why Ariadne isn’t dashing over here to snatch you away?”

“Yes,” Arthur snapped. “I do have the decency not to fool with actual feelings.”

No one else would have looked closer at something like that. Eames, though, was too used to picking apart the finer parts of a person’s behavior to turn it off now. “Are you trying to imply—”

“No.” Arthur shot up, fumbling for the handle of his suitcase despite how numb his hands seemed to have gone. “I’m  _ not _ doing this.”

“ _ Arthur _ .” Eames was there when he turned, hands rising up to settle somewhere on him only to drop away on seeing how tense he really was. “I’m afraid I’m going to need a bit of help here. Because, while I have an inkling of what you think of me, I would hope you don’t think I’m the type to wreck someone’s heart that brutally.”

“Bullshit,” Arthur snapped.

“Really?” Eames huffed. “Because, if I remember correctly, you were the one that started avoiding  _ me _ .”

“What?” Arthur scrubbed a hand across his face, lowering his voice. They were already attracting too many looks as it was. “You were with someone else in the same night. The hint seemed pretty clear.” He frowned, agitation rising at how Eames’ face remained blank. “The bar? Whatever woman you had managed to snag after me? Ringing any bells?”

It took two long blinks for Eames to start laughing and, if he hadn’t grabbed hold of Arthur’s arm as soon as he tried, Arthur would have stormed off right then and there.

“I didn’t sleep with her,” Eames said. “Oh… Oh dear  _ Lord _ , darling, I was trying to get advice.”

Arthur’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t bother to tug away. “What could you possibly have needed advice for?” he asked.

“Well,” Eame said, “there was this boy I had turned out to be more than a bit gone on you see. And people at bars are always keen to help when they spot someone trying to drink their troubles away.”

There was plenty that Arthur could have said in response to that, but what actually made its way out was, “I can’t have been that stupid.”

Eames’ laughter was a lot less hard to deal with this time around. “Only if I managed to be too.” He cocked his head to the side, thumb tracing across the inner part of Arthur’s arm. “There’s a rather nice bar in the hotel I’m staying at, though. If you’re up a redo.”

Arthur’s answering laugh was a bit breathless, but at least Eames’ arms were quick to fold in around him when he leaned in.

Today, it would seem, truly was the kind for solving impossibilities.

**Author's Note:**

> Is it acceptable to just exclaim, "I had feelings!" as an explanation for all this? Because that's honestly what happened here.


End file.
